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We’re still a few months away from John Ternus taking the reins at Apple, but I think we’re already starting to see glimpses of what Apple’s future will look like under his stewardship.
Today, I want to focus on one particular rumour, which I’m pretty sure is far more than Reddit thread-fuelled internet guff: the MacBook Ultra.
The word ‘Ultra’ is something Apple has steadily been placing at the end of a select number of products and components. Three, to be exact.
There’s the Apple Watch Ultra, which is currently — and consistently — strapped to my left wrist as I write these words. Then, CarPlay Ultra, which arrived last year with relatively little fanfare but a promise of a far more integrated automotive experience for iPhone users. Under the hood, Apple has applied the ‘Ultra’ moniker to its M-series chips, which are essentially two ‘Max’ chips fused together to create one monster central brain for its top-end Mac lineup.
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That’s it, though. No iPhone Ultra. No Mac Ultra beyond that internal chip, and no iPad Ultra.
In 2026, this looks set to change for at least two of those products.
The MacBook Ultra rumours
Apple is apparently gearing up to launch the so-called ‘MacBook Ultra’ later this year. Rather than replacing the MacBook Pro, it’ll sit above Apple’s current top-end laptop.
Immediately, you’re thinking, “Oh my word, that’s going to be expensive”.
Of course it will be. A specced-out 16-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro costs well over £6,000, so one can only imagine what a theoretical MacBook Ultra with all the option boxes ticked is going to weigh in at come checkout time.
Full MacBook rundown: MacBook Neo vs Air vs Pro
More interesting is what this supercharged MacBook could offer those who have enough of the ol’ Benjamins in their back pocket to buy one. According to the rumours, it’ll sport a thinner, lighter design, and it’ll be the first Mac to feature the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips. Another first, apparently, will be the inclusion of built-in cellular via Apple’s own modem chip (likely the C2), and the Dynamic Island, which has thus far been reserved for the iPhone.
Oh, and it’ll have an OLED touch display. No, really. Well, possibly.
It’s not just a renamed MacBook Pro
If the rumours are true (and it’s still a big “if”, this far out, no matter how much I want to believe them), the MacBook Neo, Air, and, most importantly, Pro, will retain their places in Apple’s laptop lineup. The Ultra will simply be the ultimate MacBook. The MacBook that shows the way forward. The MacBook no one actually needs in terms of raw power, but which everyone wants, regardless.
Clearly, if the MacBook Ultra is to exist, it won’t be a rebranded MacBook Pro. Its appearance would almost mirror what’s going on at the other end of the scale with the MacBook Neo/MacBook Air positioning. Is a MacBook Pro not quite enough for you? Is it missing things that would really set it apart from the rest of the lineup? Do you really want a touch screen? Well, get a MacBook Ultra.
I mentioned earlier that the word ‘Ultra’ hasn’t been applied to iPhone yet, either. That too might change later this year with the release of the over-rumoured foldable iPhone. The more I look into this, the more it becomes clear that it won’t be called the ‘iPhone Fold’ — that would be too obvious. Apple will instead position this new bendy portable telephone as the ‘Ultra’ variant of the iPhone, and position it above the iPhone Pro and Pro Max.
More: MacBook Neo review
The Ultra brand is, clearly, a company-wide strategy for Apple, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we may start to see it more regularly now that John Ternus is slowly making his way to the CEO hot seat.
The Ternus Effect
It’s important to remember that any remaining Apple product launches we’re likely to see this year will still have been developed under the watchful eye of Tim Cook. If the iPhone Ultra and MacBook Ultra arrive in a few months, they are, technically, Tim’s products.
What’s far more interesting is the timing of those launches (if they happen) and the fact that they coincide with John Ternus’ appointment as CEO. Although Cook will have spent the last few years nodding and shaking his head on the ultimate decisions, Ternus is grabbing the baton and will be expected to maintain momentum.
None of this is by accident. Ternus, one would assume, will have been in Apple’s succession plan for quite some time. That can only be because Tim Cook and the board expect him to be ideally suited for Apple’s next chapter. I think it’s fair to argue that he will have been given greater agency and a larger sway in the decision-making process over the last twelve months (or more), as a result. So, whatever we see later this year will have a huge Ternus stamp of approval on it.
The internet is, predictably, suddenly awash with profiles of John Ternus. Most seem to agree that he possesses a very similar temperament to Cook and is similarly risk-averse. Ternus doesn’t like to upset the apple cart, if you excuse the hideous and completely unavoidable pun.
That’s not a bad thing at all. We don’t want Apple suddenly ‘going all Google’ on us and releasing countless experimental products that are eventually canned. We want someone to continue iterating on what is now a solid lineup of products and services, while still surprising us with MacBook Neo-like unicorns every once in a while.
Check my full M5 MacBook Pro review
One clear difference between Cook and Ternus is the fact that the ‘new’ guy is a product guy. He’s often described as being an “engineer at heart” (Cook himself noted that Ternus has “the mind of an engineer”), which I personally find rather exciting. Cook’s achievements — particularly in the realm of Apple’s financials and market cap — cannot be overlooked; he’s done a stellar job for shareholders and has overseen the launch of some wonderful products. He’s also built a monstrously profitable, resource-laden, and cash-rich playground for Ternus to unleash his engineer- and product-led mind onto.
That’s extremely exciting for the long-term Apple fanboi inside me.
But we do need some balance here.
Potential trouble ahead
The introduction of a MacBook Ultra will be lauded by Apple fans and anyone for whom the MacBook Pro isn’t enough (if that’s you, by the way, please let me know what you’d intend on doing with this rumoured ultra-powerful Mac).
However, having commented publicly on Apple for over six years, I know the other side of the fence will make their feelings known, too. And it won’t be pretty.
The MacBook Ultra, if it arrives, will be made fun of for being too expensive and for not living up to the specs and apparent value for money inherent in the top-end Windows-based alternatives.
Adding a touchscreen to a Mac for the first time is also a huge decision. I’m not averse to it — I’ve enjoyed using Windows-based laptops with touch screens and feel slightly at odds when I return to the Mac thereafter. But it would be quite an adjustment, and I do wonder what it would ask of the macOS user interface.
Equally, anyone who has jumped on first-generation Apple hardware will know that there are sometimes teething issues that, to be fair to Apple, will inevitably only make themselves known once those products get into the hands of regular users.
Then, we have the RAM shortage and the continued march of AI, which is doing everything in its power to steal all of the tech headlines. The MacBook Ultra will need to shout ultra loud in that regard.
The silver lining with all of this is that the MacBook Neo has been, without question, one of the most successful launches for Apple ever, despite the world in which it has emerged. As noted earlier, a ‘MacBook Ultra’ would simply be playing that role at the other end of the scale.
Wrapping up
As always, I would encourage you to take everything I’ve noted as a rumour today with a huge pinch of salt. The MacBook Ultra may never arrive. Or, it might be something entirely different to what is being rumoured.
It’s fun to hypothesise, though, isn’t it?
I, for one, am extremely excited about what might lie ahead for Apple.
